North Pacific Passage to Japan

Ocean Cruise from Vancouver to Tokyo via Alaska

Otaru Canal

We were in Otaru two nights and the first day involved a tour of nearby Sapporo. After that we had some time to take a ride on the relatively short 3/4-mile Otaru Canal. The sea-level canal was built in 1923 to allow small ships to transport goods between warehouses and larger ships in the bay. Once modern docking facilities were built in the 1980s, the canal became obsolete and it was restored with the remaining warehouses turned into museums, shops and restaurants.